Tag Archives: drama

#238- La Notte

Quick recap: An unhappy married couple become more unhappy and less married during the course of an evening.

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It’s hard for me to believe that anyone would be unhappy while married to Marcello Mastroianni, but I may be biased

Fun (?) fact: The film is referenced during the end credits of Life of Brian – ‘If you have enjoyed this film, why not go and see La Notte?’

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If you love a movie with a ton of brooding, then this is the film for you!

My thoughts: Before starting this review, I’d just like to note that this is my 5th black and white film and I miss color so very much. I think that’s partly why this movie seems more dreary and depressing than it might actually be. Then again, it’s premise is about the end of a marriage so I don’t think I’m too far off.

The acting in La Notte was wonderful, but I already loved Marcello Mastroianni in 8 1/2 so it’s not a surprise that I would love him in this. Love is a strong word, though, to describe his character Giovanni, who was sort of a terrible person. I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to figure out who was at fault in the marriage, but it didn’t really matter because they were both equally awful. Lidia is unhappy the entire time, which is understandable considering her close friend is dying and her husband is literally having an affair in front of her. But she makes a point to look as miserable as possible, at a party no less. I get where she’s coming from, I really do, because the people at the party were all airheads, but sometimes you just have to suck it up a little or just leave because she really brought the vibe down. Giovanni, as I mentioned, had a random affair with the daughter of the guy throwing the party, which I think is just really bad manners. Have these people ever actually been out in public before?

I can’t say I was really invested in the marriage, although I generally root for things working out between people. But these two obviously needed a break. The ending, when Lidia admits to not loving Giovanni anymore is really sad, but then she reads a piece that he wrote for her many years ago and Giovanni has absolutely no recollection of writing it.If that isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is. The movie ends with him kissing her passionately while she tries to push him off of her and get away. She kind of gives up though and rolls around with him in a sand dune in the saddest sex scene I have seen in a long time.

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I guess I hope those two crazy lovebirds make it?

Final review: 3/5. This movie is apparently loved by many, but I don’t think I was in the mood to watch something so depressing

Up next: Memento

 

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#237- Storm Over Asia

Quick recap: A Mongolian herdsman starts a revolution because he got ripped off by a fur trader.

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To be fair, that’s a pretty nice piece of fur

Fun (?) fact: A silver fox fur coat will put you back about $5,000.

My thoughts: I’ve recently gotten into the podcast You Must Remember This, which examines the history of American cinema. This season, they are tackling the story of the Hollywood Blacklist, which fits perfectly with Storm Over Asia because it is legit Soviet propaganda, yo.

Did this movie create a bunch of Communists? Probably not. Unlike Salt of the Earth which had me legitimately questioning what I believed, Storm Over Asia only made me feel sorry for the poor foxes murdered for their fur. Not too sorry, though, because Mongolia is a very cold place and I’m sure fur was invaluable for keeping warm. The story itself, about the Mongolian joining with the Communist Partisans to fight the evil British army never really happened. Britain never invaded Mongolia, although they did occupy other places in Asia so it’s not too far fetched of an idea. Granted, I don’t know my USSR history as well as I should, but I just can’t imagine hoards of Russians rushing to movie theaters only to leave as card carrying members of the Communist Party because they were so angry about the fictional invasion of Mongolia.

Propaganda aside, the movie itself ran much longer than it should have. There are several scenes that made fun of Eastern religions, which made sense for the USSR to put in but watching 20 minutes of ritualistic dancing got old very quickly. I also didn’t really sympathize with the Mongolian herdsman, although I agree he should’ve gotten more for that pelt than what was given to him. Really, the only part I truly enjoyed was the last minute or so of the film when an actual storm blows in. At first, I wondered why someone chose to film a wind storm but then I got it- THIS is the storm over Asia! To make sure I understood the subtlety, among the wind blown objects were British Soldier hats and dead bodies, It was an exciting way to end an otherwise boring movie, although it still didn’t make me a Communist.

Final review: 1/5

Up next: La Notte

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#234- Lola

Quick recap: Lola is a cabaret dancer with guy trouble. There’s Frankie, an American sailor who is in love with her, Roland, a childhood friend, also in love with her, and Michel ,the guy who knocked her up and abandoned her and her son. It is Michel who Lola is madly in love with and spends her days hoping he will return.

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Lola and Frankie

Fun (?) fact: Director Jacques Demy, who has a wonderfully French name, said that Lola is ‘a musical without music’.

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Lola and Roland

My thoughts: For a movie named Lola, there isn’t actually a whole lot of Lola. Which is fine by me because I became very invested in the other characters while Lola herself bored me a bit. I get that she’s the connection between everyone and keeps the plot moving, but I would’ve been perfectly happy had the movie been something like Other Characters Who Aren’t Lola. I would watch the hell out of that.

That’s not to say I didn’t like Lola. The actress who played her, Anouk Aimée is beautiful and charming and really made the character come alive.It’s no wonder everyone was in love with her. My heart (and allegiance), however, belong to the character of Roland Cassard and his unrequited love. He was a mess most of the time- a charming guy who is so unhappy with his life that he enters a diamond smuggling ring (haven’t we all?) in order to get away from it all and do some traveling. After making the decision to participate, Roland runs into Lola and it’s the first time he smiles in the movie. I loved how much emotion was brought to the character of Roland, as he went from hopeful to head over heels to obsessive and finally to bitter as he accepted the fact that Lola didn’t love him back. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and it made me identify with him all too well.

Director Jaques Demy also made the film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which I loved, although I think I enjoyed Lola more. There were so many instances of characters having a connection to each other that it became a little silly, but on the other hand, it gives the movie an almost fairy tale sort of feel. And even though it ends badly for Emo Roland, Lola’s first love, Michel, comes back just as she is about to leave the city and everyone (except Emo Roland) lives happily ever after. It’s sappy but it works.

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Final review: 4/5, although it’s almost a 5

Up next: Blonde Cobra

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#232- The Godfather

Thanks for the suggestion, Josh!

Quick recap: A charming, uplifting story about a close-knit Sicilian family.

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Extra fun fact: 90% of  Simpsons episodes are just a parody of The Godfather

Fun (?) fact: The cat held by Marlon Brando in the beginning of the film was just a stray he found on the lot. The cat, being a cat, purred so loudly that some of Brando’s lines weren’t able to be heard.

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My thoughts: I’m so relieved to finally be able to cross The Godfather off of my ‘Oh my god, Mary, you haven’t seen ______? What’s wrong with you?’ list.And I’m also glad that it will not be added to my ‘Oh my god, Mary you didn’t like _______? What’s WRONG with you?’ list.

So. The Godfather. There’s so much to love about this film, but I think the genius lies in having all these common family events- a wedding, an ill loved one, a wife getting blown up, a baptism- and portraying them through the eyes of the Mafia. It created this perfect juxtaposition where I, as the viewer could identify with all these scenes and yet also SO NOT identify with any of the scenes. I know people love this movie for all its badass violence (and believe me, there’s plenty of that), but there is also heart, which I found most surprising. The baptism scene is a perfect example of that and also maybe the greatest scene in film,period. On one hand, here is Michael, the new godfather, honoring his duties, and with each phrase the priest says, the other scene is of absolute slaughter. He’s the godfather and he’s also The Godfather. Perfection.

I’m not even going to go into the acting because of course it was superb and all that jazz, but I never really got used to Don Corleone, played by Marlon Brando. I blame two things for this: 1) I’ve seen so many parodies and tributes  of The Godfather that seeing the actual performance felt like a parody itself and 2) I haven’t forgiven Brando yet for One-Eyed Jacks. Nonetheless, it’s one of the greatest roles in film and I can’t imagine anyone else doing it.He too is a juxtaposition between this family man- playing with his grandson, giving his children advice- and also running one of the most dangerous crime syndicates in history. Don Corleone seemed so helpless after getting shot, yet he still managed to influence every decision just by his very presence. It’s one of the greatest roles in film, which I know I’m saying a lot, but come on, it’s The Godfather.

Final review: 5/5

Up next: possibly the Ghostbusters or Casablanca

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